This invention relates to a sling for handling missiles and, more particularly, the invention is concerned with providing a missile hoisting sling which engages the mounting lugs on the missile body to allow the missile to be lifted and transported with greater ease and safety.
Heretofore, it has been common practice to lift and transport missiles by wrapping a sling around the missile at or near the center of gravity and attaching the ends to a lifting means such as a fork lift truck. This procedure requires that the missile be spaced from a flat surface so that the sling can be positioned under and around the missile. Certain difficulties are obvious in order to raise the missile off the flat surface and attach the sling for the lifting operation.
Another problem which arises with the presently used wrap around slings is the location of the center of gravity. If not correctly placed, that is, at some point other than the center of gravity, the missile could slide out of the sling causing possible damage to the missile and injury to personnel and equipment. Also, when it is necessary to keep the missile in a certain position so that the bottom is at the lowermost point, the presently available slings require that the missile be turned and adjusted to come into alignment during placement in the container.
Thus, it can be seen that it would be most desirable if the missile could be lifted easily and safely off a flat surface without the necessity of locating the exact center of gravity each time. The hereinafter described invention does provide a sling which is safer because it lifts the missile from its exact center of gravity every time and automatically holds the missile in the correct position so the bottom of the missile is down. The handling time required to lift and transport the missiles is greatly reduced.